Top news stories of 2015

Creston man killed at GV Chemical plant

Jan. 9

A Creston man was killed the morning of Jan. 8 following an explosion at Green Valley Chemical in Creston.

The accident happened outside the plant at approximately 11 a.m. when a 4-inch pipe exploded, killing 71-year-old Eldon Ray of Creston.

Bill Clem, plant manager of Green Valley Chemical in Creston, said the explosion also injured at least two people. He called those injuries non-life-threatening, but he did not elaborate. It was unknown exactly what caused the pipe to burst. Cold weather conditions may have played a role in the explosion. No chemicals were released during the explosion.

Green Valley Chemical is located north of Creston at 1284 Cherry Street Road and produces agricultural fertilizer and anhydrous ammonia.

Saving Charlie

• Creston residents and Creston Fire Department work together to save a 3-year-old yellow lab during rescue at Summit Lake

Jan. 17

Creston firefighters saved the life of a 3-year-old yellow lab named Charlie in mid-January.

The rescue occurred around 2 p.m. Jan. 17 at Summit Lake after Charlie and his brother Bruiser — a chocolate lab — got loose from a local residence in Creston and ventured to the lake where Charlie apparently ran onto the ice to chase some geese and fell into the freezing water.

Bruiser and Charlie — treading in the freezing water — began to bark, which got the attention of Greg Driskell who was grilling on his back patio at his house. Greg told his wife Merry about the situation and she called the Creston Fire Department directly.

“It didn’t take them long to get there,” Greg said.

Responding were Creston firefighters Lee Freeman, Kyle Krantz, Gary Thompson, Ray Ott, Taner Morey and Cheryl Blazek. Krantz and Freeman put on ice rescue suits and together crawled on their stomachs across the ice (estimated at 5 inches in depth) for about 300 feet before getting to Charlie who had been treading in freezing water for approximately 40 minutes.

Freeman lifted the 95-pound dog out of water and into a Stokes rescue basket.

“He was shaking pretty good, but was happy to see us and be out of the water,” Krantz said.

Firefighters Ott, Thompson, Morey and Blazek pulled their fellow firefighters and Charlie to shoreline.
Charlie was taken immediately to Creston Veterinary Clinic by Jared Knutstrom where doctors there started him on an IV full of warm saline, covered him in blankets and warmed him with a heating lamp.

Charlie’s owners — Jennie and Ryan Samo — were at a late family Christmas dinner in Lenox and were unaware the dogs got loose and were unaware of the rescue. They were contacted and met Charlie at the vet clinic.

“He looked so sad and weak and had the biggest puppy dog eyes,” Jennie said. “Seeing him like that made me start to cry.”

Jennie said the vet clinic kept Charlie overnight to monitor his body temperature. He was released Sunday morning and Jennie said he and his brother Bruiser were back to normal by Sunday afternoon playing together at their residence in West Des Moines.

“I just want to thank everyone involved,” Jennie said. “A family Christmas really turned into quite a weekend adventure for everyone. Again, we are so appreciative of everyone’s help. They saved Charlie’s life. The vet told us he wouldn’t have made it out there in the water much longer.”

Panther wrestler collapses at state dual match

Feb. 19

DES MOINES — Moments after the Creston/Orient-Macksburg wrestling team suffered its first defeat of the season Feb. 18 at the Dual Team Wrestling Championships, team member Tayler Pettit was suddenly in a fight for his life.

The incident began after Pettit wrestled up a weight at 182 against Union’s Tanner Shirk. Pettit complained of some discomfort in his midsection, leading trainers to investigate the possibility of a rib cage injury, after he was pinned in the second period.

“They think something may have happened in about the first 10 seconds of his match, an impact to his chest that could have possibly thrown his heart rhythm off at the time,” Panther coach Darrell Frain said later Feb. 18.

“Our trainer, Chris Leonard, saw him on the edge of the mat looking like he was about to pass out,” Frain added. “He said he had trouble breathing. They took care of him and then when the dual was over, he got up to join us in shaking hands and he couldn’t make it through and basically passed out. Then he went into seizures.”

That’s when Leonard, the Iowa State University training staff that includes former Panther wrestler Jordan Hayes, and Dr. Dennis Zachary went into action to revive Pettit, who had lost consciousness with a fading pulse.

Zachary told reporters that CPR and the use of automatic defibrillators likely saved Pettit’s life. Those resuscitation efforts were ongoing as Pettit was taken by stretcher to the ambulance for transport to Mercy Medical Center. Officials said Pettit was in “stable but critical condition” at the hospital later that night.

Pettit underwent several tests and it was discovered he had an extra electrical pathway in his heart that caused a rapid heart rate (Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome). Pettit underwent a surgical heart procedure Feb. 18 and was released from the hospital Feb. 20.

The paramedics, who had seconds to save his life, and emergency medical workers were honored in a ceremony that weekend at the state tournament.

Among those honored were Creston athletic trainer Chris Leonard, the first person to notice the Panther wrestler was having distressed breathing; and tournament physician Dr. Dennis Zachary, who correctly surmised Pettit might be having an episode related to Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.

Pesik family

leaves $3 million in farmland to Holy Spirit Parish

Feb. 20

When 440 acres of farmland sold for more than $3 million in January, a family with a legacy of giving had made its final contribution to Holy Spirit Parish and the St. Malachy Foundation.

The land, located northwest of Creston, belonged to the Pesiks, a family of nine siblings, none of whom ever married or had children. The siblings lived on the family farm and regularly volunteered at the parish and St. Malachy School.

When the final sibling, Irene Pesik, died in September 2012 at age 93, the parish received two parcels of land through the family’s will. The sale, which took place Jan. 24, grossed $3,095,618.

“We’ve sold other pieces of land,” said the Rev. Ken Halbur, pastor at Holy Spirit Parish. “For my time here, this is by far the biggest.”

What exactly does a parish do with $3 million?

A committee representing both the parish and the St. Malachy Foundation, which provides funding to St. Malachy School, met to decide. The committee agreed to split the sale of the land equally between the two. It also decided to invest the money, with the goal of only drawing from the interest each year.

“We wanted it to be a long-term legacy,” Halbur said. “We’re not going to touch the principal.”

To commemorate the Pesiks’ ministry to the parish, plaques of honor were installed at both the church and St. Malachy School.

Three Creston men dead after ice fishing incident

March 9

Three Creston men died following an ice fishing incident March 7 at a farm pond north of Creston.

Earl R. Burkhalter, 71, Charles W. Critz, 73, and James E. Oshel, 68, all of Creston, drowned in the incident and were later pronounced dead.

According to a Creston Police and Union County Sheriff report, law enforcement received a report of a possible drowning 8:06 p.m. March 7. Upon arrival, it was determined the three men had gone ice fishing earlier in the afternoon and had failed to return. A large hole was discovered on a farm pond located on the Adair-Union county line in Union County.

Creston and Afton fire departments, Greater Regional Medical Center ambulance service and Midwest Regional Dive Team responded to the pond.

“Once we got all set up, the Creston ice rescue crew retrieved all three of them,” Jackson said.

Of the three victims, two were retrieved from the water 20 minutes after rescue crews were on-scene, and the third was retrieved approximately a half-hour later. The victims had been approximately 20 feet from shore.

Williamson twister

• Sharon Walter and eight children survived violent tornado that swept through her farmstead in Adams County

Aug. 3

An EF1 tornado destroyed Sharon Walter’s farmstead and damaged several others near Williamson Aug. 2.

National Weather Service declared the tornado touched down about 8 miles north northeast of Prescott at 6:25 p.m. that night and stayed on the ground for 25 minutes. Officials said the twister traveled 4 miles with a peak wind gust of 100 mph. The tornado traveled south before turning northeast. No injuries or fatalities were reported with this storm.

Walter, 74, had eight children — ages 12 to 22 — on the property when the tornado approached around 6:15 p.m. that day. They all survived the storm by cramming together into a crawl space beneath the staircase.

On Aug. 4, she said that she expects damage at her family farm to reach into the millions of dollars. The tornado threw her New Holland combine through the air 1/8 of a mile. It pummeled four concrete silos, two machine sheds, numerous vehicles/machinery and a large shop.

“It was a war zone out here yesterday,” Walter said. “But, it looks better today. There were cars lined up along the roads everywhere with people in pickups pulling flatbeds, skid loaders, a crane and hundreds of people walking the bean field. I want to send out a big thank you to everyone who helped.”

Walter’s house was “salvageable” with one large hole in the roof above the kitchen and several broken windows in her sun room.

Walter said in August that her family plans to rebuild the structures on the farm that she’s lived at since 1967.

Huntsman

sentenced to 20 years in prison

Aug. 12

Lyndsay Jo Huntsman, 44, of Creston was sentenced to 20 years in prison for five counts of first-degree theft Aug. 12 at Union County Courthouse in Creston.

Huntsman, who pleaded guilty to the theft charges May 29, misappropriated approximately $480,000 in funds and assets and another $190,000 from in vehicle electronic funds transfers from Creston Automotive between 2010 and 2014 while working as its office manager.

“I cannot, in good conscience, grant probation,” said Judge Dustria A. Relph during the sentencing hearing. “I spent a lot of time trying to decide what would be appropriate in this case. ... It just jumped out at me that you’re not taking accountability for this.”

In October, Huntsman was ordered to pay restitution of nearly $432,000 to Creston Automotive in Creston. Her husband, Jeff Huntsman, said during the sentencing hearing that “we will be paying for this the rest of our lives.” He added: “We will do everything we can to pay it back.”

Train whistles cease in uptown Creston

Nov. 13

A quiet zone has successfully been established in uptown Creston. At 10 a.m. Nov. 16, train whistles ceased at the Elm Street and New York Avenue crossings. It was a project that city officials began working on in spring 2007.

City officials started this quiet zone project 8 1/2 years ago after uptown business owners voiced concerns that the train whistles were too loud and they were having trouble communicating with customers in person and on the phone.

Since, medians abutting with the stop arms on Elm Street and New York Avenue were constructed with the intention of adding another layer of safety at the crossings.

Still, this has been a controversial project in the community as some citizens like the nostalgic sound of the train whistles and they also point to history as Creston was established in the early 1870s because of the railroad.

Two dead, Jerry Dillinger faces first-degree

murder charges

Dec. 8

Loretta Lynn Dillinger, 37, of Thayer was found dead in a farm pond located at the intersection of Redwood Avenue and 105th Street in Union County Dec. 2.

Dillinger’s body was discovered around 9 a.m. that day after Union County’s Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from a hunter, who saw something floating in a stock pond.

“This time of year, typical Iowa, people were out hunting and came over the pond bank and found the body in the pond,” said Mike Motsinger, special agent with Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI). “It’s not something that would have been able to see from any gravel road or anything.”

Loretta’s death prompted a full investigation by local law enforcement and DCI, and through that investigation, law enforcement was informed of a possible second dead body.

On Dec. 12, law enforcement executed search warrants on multiple properties near Thayer and, in doing so, did discover the skeletal remains of a second individual.

“We had to use some excavating equipment and the use of a dog team to help locate the skeletal remains (of the second victim),” Motsinger said.

Information has yet to be released regarding the second victim. The remains were transported to the State Medical Examiner’s office in Ankeny for identification and forensic examination. Meanwhile, an autopsy is currently being performed on Loretta’s body.

Jerry Dillinger, 37, of Thayer has been charged on two counts of first-degree murder.

Jerry Dillinger is still being held in Union County Jail on a $2 million cash only bond pending further proceedings.

—————

Creston man dies in grain bin accident near Murray
Dec. 17

MURRAY — Eric Reasland, 39, of Creston died earlier this month after being trapped in a grain bin for more than three hours on 1024 Kendall St. near Murray.

Emergency personnel responded to the accident around 9 a.m. Dec. 16.

Reasland was pulled from the grain bin around noon that day by first responders and was transported immediately to Clarke County Hospital in Osceola where he was pronounced dead.

Bill Kerns, sheriff in Clarke County, told reporters the owner of the grain bin and Reasland, his hired hand, were getting grain out of the bin in the early morning hours.

“Evidently, it had crusted over. The hired hand (Reasland) went down inside of the bin to break the crust on top of the grain,” he said. “The owner went back down on the ground to run the auger, and said he waited about eight to 10 minutes. (He) shut the auger off, went back up to make sure he was OK and couldn’t find him.”

Kerns said a visual had been made on Reasland inside the grain bin around 10 a.m. Dec. 16, but he was surrounded by a significant amount of grain.

Kerns said in his 31 years in law enforcement, he’s only seen a grain bin accident like this happen twice.